Eona: the last dragoneye
by dragongirl423
Summary: Eona, once known as Eon, is a powerful Dragoneye destined to save a doomed empire, but with her power practically non-existent and a dangerous love triangle blooming will she be able to follow the path fate has laid out for her or get trapped in the obstacles along the way?
1. Chapter 1  going to see the emperor

I walked through the halls of the tavern Tozay had brought us to after our long boat ride from the hell that now showered the empire. There were many people here, mostly refugees. I looked down from the top floor that my room was on. It was a sickening sight. Men from the fight, most of them injured. The smells of rotting flesh in the air. The light blue dress I had on was quite uncomfortable considering the fact that I hadn't worn a dress in over 4 years and that it squeezed to tight and barley covered my breast. I had complained to Lady Dela about it but she just said that was all she could manage and I didn't fight on the subject any longer. I sighed.

"Eona!" shouted a familiar voice. I turned to see Lady Dela motioning me to come near. She was standing out side of an open door, the door that led to Ryko's room. I walked in. The air inside was cold, and unforgiving. I looked around the room and saw the town beseecher calling to Shola the goddess of death.

" Is he any better?" I asked. I glanced down at Ryko's body, watching the small, weak movement of his chest go up and down.

" No, if anything he's gotten worse," she muttered, " Tozay says that he is slowly deteriorating at a unwavering rate."

" I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to say. She just stared at me for a few seconds. Her eyes seemed to be looking deep within me. I turned away from her eyes not wanting to meet her gaze. _This is all too much to handle,_ I thought, _I haven't had sleep in at least three days since the empire was taken over. _I now saw wanted signs for Dela, Ryko, Kygo, and me. The poster of me was supposed to look like Eon, which means Ido has not told them that I'm a girl. I walked out of Ryko's room. I could not bear to stay in there any longer with the death chants and Dela's atrocious glare. I knew what had happened to Ryko was my fault, and Dela was never going to let me live it down. I wandered about the cabin for a few minutes. Taking in the wondrous paintings and beautiful furniture. I was walking back to my room trying to get my head straight when I heard a pounding of feet and clapping and a man's voice rose over the thunderous sound saying, " Emperor Kygo has returned to us! We shall celebrate!" I froze at the words. I could not move. I thought about the last time I saw Kygo. He had nearly killed me, if it weren't for my lucky blow. _I can not see him! Not now. Not so soon._ I had to get away I bolted for my room but as I came out of one of the halls I realized I would have to pass the opening of the stairs the led to bottom floor to get to my room. _Maybe I could just walk by without him noticing me? Or maybe he won't recognize me? Probably not, I was just another shorthaired, plainly dressed, and nothing special about her kind of girl. _I thought, _yeah, this will be easy. _I smiled to myself and strutted past the steps, but to my luck Tozay saw me and motioned me to come down. I stared at him for a second, and immediately gave my head a little shake. " Come on Eona! The emperor is here, he keeps asking for you!" He whispered.

" Please don't make me face him! I don't think I'm ready for that yet." Tozay sighed and hurriedly climbed the steps to fetch me. He pulled on my arm and finally I couldn't resist I was going to see the emperor.


	2. Chapter 2 people die

I was numb for most of the time. Just sitting at a table with Dela, Ryko, Tozay and a few others. Kygo was sitting near the end of the table. He didn't look the same for some reason. I wasn't sure what it was, maybe it was that he wasn't in his fancy clothes or the entire servants ready to bend to his every need didn't surround him. Either way he didn't seem the same. The first few minutes he didn't talk to me, he refused to even let him self look at me. _ If he is going to act like this then I should not even be here! _I thought. I finally had enough I got up to leave, but as soon as I did the emperor asked, "Where are you going?" He eyed me.

"I'm going to my room," I stated flatly, "obviously I have no place in your conversation."

"What makes you think that?" Kygo sternly glared at me, it was challenge to keep moving. Almost like he dared me to try to go to my room without his permission. I glared back until he sighed and turned away. "I'm sorry if I came off to you that way," he muttered, "I just don't know what to make of you yet." I gaped at the sudden apology. Dela gave me a look that said you need to apologize back.

"Um, I'm sorry I overreacted." I said grudgingly. His face suddenly brightened. He smiled at me, he seemed happy that I had forgiven him.

"So I never caught your real name." He made the accusation a question. He was suddenly very interested in me. I was confused at first, but I just shrugged it off.

"My name is Eona." I acknowledged, smiling at him with the same eagerness to become friends.

"Pleasure to meet you, Eona." He graciously said. I eyed him for a moment, sizing him up. He seemed very tired and a little strung out.

"I'm sure all this running around is making you quite tired, your majesty." Tozay stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Kygo turned to the dark-skinned man next to him.

"I have had very little time to sleep with all that is going on around me," the emperor sighed, "with the guards having to push me to leave every new place we come to; I'm quite surprised to have gotten any sleep at all." He laughed without humor. I looked at him again, he seemed even more strung out then before.

After a quiet conversation that mostly spoke of his majesty's small adventure after Sethon's murderous coup on the empire, I excused myself from the table claiming that I was tired and needing of sleep. As I walked back to my room I realized someone had followed me. I turned around swiftly to come face to face with Dela. She started walk silently beside me, staring at the ground as we went. Finally, she looked up.

"I have been thinking." She murmured almost to herself.

"Thinking about what?" I glanced up to see her masculine face. It was no longer painted with the creamy white make-up she used to wear in the palace.

"About Ryko," Dela flatly stated.

I stared at her face. She was hiding something, but I didn't know what. She turned to me with a sudden sullen face.

"He's dead." Dela looked as if she were about to scream, but she didn't. Tears started streaking her face. I hugged her what else was I supposed to do.


	3. Chapter 3 me, myself, and I

As I entered my small room I glanced at the picture of a swan, its beautiful cream body swimming gracefully through a pond. The neck arched, ready to dive for a fish under the rippling water, its eyes so full of life unlike my lost friend. The sudden sadness hit me like a punch to my face, Ryko was gone. He was never coming back, and it was my fault. I threw myself on the bed mat, unable to cope with the sudden loss. It seemed like I laid there for hours, thinking about all the death that had occurred since my coming of dragoneye status. My master's death I had thought would be the worst, but cruel fate had won again. I remembered ranne's death, but I had not been too sorrowful about that. Lady Jila's death had been very mournful, but I had not been too disturbed for I had not known her that well. The old emperor's decease had been predicted, and had been hard to deal with, but still it could not hurt as bad as this. A true friend had been killed, murdered and it was because of me. He had protected me, nurtured me, and had accepted me when I told him the truth of my sex. Suddenly I heard a sharp knock on the door. I hurriedly wiped the tears the clung to my face. I opened it expecting to see Dela or Tozay. Instead his majesty stood in front of me, looking a little sheepish.

"Lady Eona, I have been informed of Ryko's departure. I give you my most humbled apologies." He mumbled. I stared at him. He didn't seem depressed, almost fake. Rage suddenly flew into me; he had not even known Ryko! I tried to calm myself, but I was so angry. He had probably already told Dela and Tozay the same thing!

"Why are you apologizing when you didn't even know him?" I asked accusingly. He looked up as he heard the vehemence in my words.

"Excuse me?" he growled. There was no one around that could hear us.

"You don't know him therefore you don't care if he died, all you care about is getting your throne back! You don't care who dies to get it back! I could drop dead at the end of this whole war and you wouldn't care as long as you have your throne!" I was yelling ready to draw my swords if necessary. His eyes lit up with fury.

"Well, maybe if Brannon had left you where you belonged none of us would be in this mess!" he yelled back. I winced, his barb bit deep. I knew where he meant, no doubt lady Dela had told him about my life's story, but I was not going to let that jab get to me.

"I would be careful of what I say if I were you, your majesty, I'd hate to see you lose you mirror dragoneye because you can't control your temper!" I sneered before he could come up with a response I was slamming the door in his face. I heard him gasp before he stormed off. I opened the door again, he was gone. At last, I was with the only people I wanted to be around: me, myself, and I.


	4. Chapter 4 A traitor's return

I laid in my bed for a few minutes, not wanting to get up, in fear of seeing Kygo again. I heard a small tap on the screen door, I went to open it, and was welcomed by Dela.

"Hello Lady Eona, how did you sleep?" she seemed hollow and empty as she bowed, but still held a smile.

"I slept well except for the big fight I had with the emperor last night." I yawned.

"Yes, I heard about that from his majesty, he seemed quite angry." She mused.

"You seem to be doing well." I acknowledged, trying to change the subject.

"Well, Ryko would not want me to be moping around about his death," she stated in a strong voice, "I am going to avenge his death no matter if it means my death." I would wait until later to tell her that I had healed Ido, and gave him more compassion.

"Oh, and the emperor wishes to see you," she reported. I almost fell over. "He is in the farthest room on the right, down that hall." She directed to the room.

"Thank you." I stuttered. I got dressed and started down the hall. I was wearing a lavender dress that didn't fit any better than the blue one.

As entered the room, I saw Kygo. He was sitting on a huge bed with only cotton trousers, tied at the ankle, on.

"Greetings your majesty." I said a little sarcastically as I bowed.

"Lady Eona, rise," he commanded, "I have been meaning to talk to since last night." I eyed him as I rose.

"Yes?" I asked a little wary.

"I believe it is best if we put our argument behind us and start fresh."

"How many times are we going to have to start fresh?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Until we can get along." He said before getting up and pulling on a tunic and a mourning robe.

"I agree." I murmured not wanting to cause any more problems.

"Good, now we must discuss where you stand as a dragoneye, do you have her name?" he asked, looking at me closely, probably to make sure I wasn't lying.

"Yes, I have her name." I answered.

"You can control her?"

"Yes." I responded again. Suddenly, a smiled eased his lips.

"Come, you must be quite hungry," he paused then added, "My friend."

I smiled as I followed him.

As we entered the lower floor of the tavern, where the eatery was located, I saw Dela setting a woven basket with freshly baked bread poking out of the top. She looked up to see the emperor and me walking side by side, and smiled. The aroma of all the food sitting on a long wooden table made my stomach growl with hunger. I had not realized how ravenous I was until now.

"Greetings Lady Eona, how are you?" Tozay asked as he bowed. He was sitting next to a young boy who was a little younger than me, maybe around fourteen or fifteen.

"Oh, this is Meeko. He is one of my children." Tozay introduced. Meeko bowed quickly, dipping low.

"It is a great honor to meet you, Lady Dragoneye." Meeko stuttered nervously once more bowing low.

"Greetings Meeko." I nodded.

"Where is his highness?" Dela asked as she walked up. I turned around looking for him. _Where is he? He had been right behind me. _

"I thought he had followed me." I told her.

"I am right here." Kygo had stepped into the room with a few men trailing behind him. Everyone immediately dropped to their knees. "Rise." He demanded. Everyone stood, dusting off their clothes.

After everybody was sitting at the table and eating small conversation broke out. I was sitting next to Dela and Meeko, who would not stop staring at me. Kygo was at the head of the table surrounded by his guards, or what was left of them. As I looked around the table I realized that there were no women. All of them were seated at another table, across the room. They talked amongst themselves.

"Why are all the women seated over there?" I questioned.

"Women are not permitted to eat with men." Dela stated. That made stop me think. _Then why am I here? _ There was only one answer to that question, Because Kygo wanted to keep me close. He did not want to give me any reason to run off and join Sethon's army. He had taken caution to the warning I had given him last night before I had slammed the door in his face. Suddenly, I heard a loud bang. Every person looked up. Kygo turned to face to the hallway that led to the front entrance.

"I'll get that." A young soldier decreed as he walked the length to the door. He opened it slowly, drawing his sword in case of danger. Once the door was open a tall man in a black cloak with a hood over his head stepped in. I recognized the figure even with the hood. No doubt it was Ido.


	5. Chapter 5 conviding in the enemy

I was frozen. I didn't know what to think at first. I just sat in the chair next to Dela. Ido was looking around the room with a hard gaze; suddenly his golden eyes fell on me. I glared back unable to hide my disgust and anger. This man had killed almost all of my allies and friends, and now he stood before me with a smirk on his cleanly shaved face!

"What are you doing here?" Kygo sharply asked.

"Such a warm welcoming," Ido said, sarcasm dripping off his tongue, "I'm here to warn you that Sethon knows of your whereabouts and is heading this way as we speak." Some of the women gasped and some started screaming. "Silence!"His majesty yelled. Tozay jerked his head at Ido and guards immediately surrounded him. I watched as he was forced to his knees and cuffed with irons. He was still looking at me when he stood up.

"What if he's lying?" Meeko questioned.

"Take him to a windowless room and stand guard until General Tozay and I can talk to him! Make sure he is cuffed at all times and do not let him escape!" the emperor commanded ignoring Meeko's question. All eight of the men bowed as they half dragged half carried Lord Ido. He still looked me as he was harshly escorted out of the room.

"Eona, are you alright? You look pale." Dela murmured.

"Yes, I'm fine; just a little tired, that's all." I replied as I started to stand up. Tozay signaled for Meeko and a few other men to follow him as he and the emperor headed down one of the winding halls to where Ido was being kept. I turned and started toward the front door to go outside. I needed air to clear my head. Seeing Ido had sparked some unwanted memories of my, now deceased, master. I remembered the time my master had first bought me from the salt farm. I had been a scared girl, only eleven at the time. I had expected to clean his house or take care of children, but as we traveled to his house he had told me about his past and asked me about my dragon sight. At first I had been shocked that he had been a dragoneye, but that had quickly turned into confusion when he asked me to be his candidate. I argued that I was just a girl, and could not be a candidate. That's when he had told me that his plan was for me to pretend to be a boy. I had thought he was crazy, and told him I wouldn't do it. He threatened that he would send me back to the salt farm if I did not cooperate. It was then that Eon was created and I started my study in the dragon magic and my dark deception. Looking back on it, I laughed. This is what was created from one old man's simple plan. I missed Brannon, but his betrayal was still raw and I did not know what to make of his love. Was it fatherly love or something more? I didn't want to dwell on the subject for too long. I started to think about the first time I had been candidate Eon. Ranne had not been too happy to see a cripple in his class and Jin-pa had been neutral. It was then that I had realized the hatred for cripples. I had really not paid much attention to it until I had become one. That was also the first time I had seen Dillon. I remembered I was walking to my master's house from our first lesson in the practice arena and I had saw Dillon being pushed around by Beret and a few of his friends I had gotten angry and had stood up for him and even though we both ended up in a tree with a few scrapes and bruises we had bonded with each other. Thinking about him now made my stomach turn. _I hope he's alright _I prayed to the any god that would listen. As sat on a bench in a small pleasure garden I felt a cool breeze flow through the small space, then I remembered Ido's words and hurried back inside.

I walked through the front door to hear a clambering of commotion. I stopped in front of the sitting room door where the noise was coming from. I saw that the door was only partly closed. I knew I should not peak through but my curiosity got the better of me and I looked in. I saw Kygo lying on top of a girl on the floor. I backed away trying to hide my sudden despair. _We are only friends nothing more. You're not even royalty!_ I tried to tell myself. I started up the corridor until I saw Tozay and Dela waiting outside a room.

"Where is he?" I heard Dela softly whisper to Tozay.

"I don't know. Perhaps he does not wish to see lord Ido." I knew exactly who they were talking about. I suddenly heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Kygo trying to flatten his messy hair. I glared at him, unable to talk myself out of being jealous.

"I'm here. Let us begin quickly before Sethon comes." Kygo ordered.

Ido wouldn't say anything. We would ask questions, but he did nothing but sit there. Kygo had gotten frustrated and had almost punched him had it not been for Dela to calm his sudden rages. Tozay would try to talk but again Ido would ignore him. Finally, after a full bell had passed he spoke.

"I will only talk to Lady Eona," He said impassively, "alone."

"No!" Kygo answered his voice now peevish.

"That is my decision, and we need the information." I growled. Tozay nodded.

"Alright, but if anything goes wrong just yell." Kygo said glaring at the dragoneye. When everyone was gone Ido relaxed, and a smile eased his lips. I wanted to slap him, but I knew that would not help the situation.

"Women hood suits you quite well and I see your no longer limping." He noted. I just glared.

"Yes, but your still a sleazy bastard." I would refrain from the slapping but not the name calling.

"Still just has stubborn and touchy as I remember." His smile widened.

"When will Sethon be arriving?" I asked.

"Near dusk tomorrow," He replied unfazed, "You're mad about something, I can see it in your eyes."

"I am not mad." I looked away from him. He just laughed.

"Alright, I caught his majesty with a woman in the sitting room, and I am mad that he is not more focused on the war." I lied. Ido chuckled.

"That's not it. You are jealous of the girl he was with. You don't have to lie to me, Eona. I will not tell him anything you don't want me to." He murmured. I knew I shouldn't trust him but I had no one else to confide in. And Ido would understand. He had done much worse things than me. I smiled. He returned the smile and sat forward ready to hear my confessions and secrets. I sat forward ready to give them.

**sorry for the late update my mom grounded me from my computer for like a week anyway hope you like it! and reviews and critiques are welcome. everything belongs to Alison Goodman! hope you enjoy I'll try to get the next chapter updated earlier **


	6. Chapter 6 Runaway

"Ow!" I yelled as I hit the ceiling of the cart we were riding in as it ran over a bump in the road. Only Meeko, Dela, Kygo, and I were in the wagon.

"How long until the next stop?" Meeko called to his father who was riding a stumpy bay alongside the cart.

"About two days." Tozay said. Ido and the rest of our group were riding in another cart taken along a different route. Kygo had wanted us to separate and regroup once we met at the various check points he and Tozay had chosen for our journey. Dela and Meeko were tossing dice while Kygo was looking over maps and books. I was looking out at the landscape through a small window, letting my mind wander. Back at the tavern I had told Ido almost everything about my life as Eon, he had not said much after the conversation and I was now rethinking my new found trust in him. We hit another bump again my head hit the roof with a loud thump. I looked around the cart messaging my head, apparently I was the only one bouncing into the ceiling because I saw Dela and Meeko chuckling. Kygo was paying no mind to me, his forehead creased in frustration.

"If I do not get out of this cart soon, someone is going to die." I threatened. I heard another round of chuckles from Dela and Meeko. I sighed my legs were starting to cramp but I refused to complain for nothing was as bad as the crippling pain I had once felt in my hip. Suddenly, I felt the cart stop. I hit the wooden side and groaned. I heard voices outside and leaned out the window to see a few soldiers riding up on their mounts.

"Why did we stop?" Kygo was opening the curtain to step out of the rickshaw but I immediately grabbed the sleeve of his tunic.

"Soldiers," I hissed, "stay low!" Kygo quickly ducked back in. I leaned my head out the window, but I couldn't see anything so I poked my head all the way out only to come face to face with a lieutenant. Before I could pull my head back in he grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled my head even further out of the cart. I grunted in pain and tried to yank his hands off of me, but he just pulled harder and chuckled.

"Well, who is this lil' beauty?" the man asked bringing my face closer to his. I could smell the cheap wine and tobacco in his putrid breath. I wrinkled my nose.

"That is my daughter, Sela." Dela replied, I had not noticed her getting out of the cart. I saw Kygo and Meeko peeking around the side. Suddenly, Kygo came rushing around the side before anyone could stop him.

"May you please let go of my sister, sir?" Kygo asked politely. I just stared at Kygo, but all I saw in his face was determination to get back on the road to travel. I again felt that strange disappointment in my heart. Like, when I had thought he might have feelings for me that were more than companionship, before I saw him with the girl. I heard the man laugh.

"And what if I don't wanna let go," he sneered, "what you gonna do, boy?" I saw the punch before I heard the wet, cracking sound of knuckles on bone. I flinched as I jerked away. Once I was free I jumped from the window and quickly reached for my swords only to realize that they were still in the cart

"Dragon's piss!" I cursed. I thought for a few minutes and then I closed my eyes and searched the pathways of my _hu_a. When I finally opened my eyes I was looking at my dragon, her beauty still breathtaking. "Eona!" I called our shared name briskly. I felt her energy rush towards me. I smiled as we united, the familiar cinnamon taste on my tongue making my smile widen. My sight blurred between the heavens and earth. I looked down where the fighting was taking place and focused my power on that spot, but just as I was about to use my power, ten raging beast came rumbling towards us. We reared unable to calm the dragons, their sour cries pounding in our head. I fell back to earth so quickly that my own body slammed into the ground and rolled under the cart. I ducked away from the stomping horses.

"Where, in Shola's name are you, Eona?" Kygo yelled furiously.

"I'm right here," I answered rolling out from under the cart, "I tried to call my dragon, but when I communed with her the other ten dragons ambushed us and blocked me from my dragon." Kygo stared at me for a few seconds, unable to speak, finally he said something.

"Then, you are of little use to me now." He stated harshly, turning to meet another opponent head on. I sighed and slipped back into the cart hurrying to find my swords. Once I had found them rapped in a rough blanket and stored in a woven basket I stepped outside the cart, only to find everyone glaring at me.

"What?" I asked in a more shrill voice then I had intended.

"You still can't use your power, you argue with me constantly, and because of your curiosity you had to stick your head out the window and get us all in a fight to save your arse only to have four of my men killed. From now on you will just stay in the cart and be quiet. You will not be allowed to get out, unless I allow you too, and you will always have a guard with you at all times. Is that clear, Lady Eona?" Kygo didn't wait for my response; he turned around and ordered everyone to move out. I felt someone tug my arm and turned to see Meeko smiling sympathetically.

"I'm your new guard." He mumbled. I jerked my arm out of his grasp and stalked back to the cart, unable to control my anger. It was not my fault I could not use my power, but it was my fault we had gotten into that fight. I sighed knowing I could not ignore that hard truth, it had been my fault.

As we moved through the country side, I couldn't help but think about what Kygo had said. He was wrong to be mad at me about the dragon power, but could I blame him? He had put so much hope on my success, and I had let him down every time. He shouldn't have relied on me so much; he should have had another plan…. I stopped then, from over thinking the situation, I would just get mad. I started playing with the folds of my dress, having been snapped at by Kygo for trying to look out the window. I was bored and Meeko was not very entertaining, he already tried to start a conversation twice, but all he wanted to talk about was my life as Eon, and I defiantly did not want to talk about that. I sighed loudly and rested my head against the wooden wall of the wagon. We were supposed to have stopped and started camp a few miles back, but his majesty wanted to keep going, because he was afraid once Sethon finds the bodies, even though we tried to hide the horrific scene, he would know which direction we were going and catch up to us. I thought Kygo was just paranoid and that we should make camp, but I kept my mouth shut. Dela was in one of the corners trying to find more in the folio, so far it only told of the mirror dragon, describing the communing and the beauty of the ceremony and the other dragons bowing to my ancestress, Kinra. Kygo was once again shuffling through maps and books, trying to come up with a strategy. I could hear Tozay and his men talking outside, but could not make out any of the words. I stared in front of me having nothing else to do, but breath. If Ryko was still alive he could have been my guard, instead of Meeko. He would have been much easier to talk to. I felt the sorrow still in me even though it had already been four days since he had died. Without warning the cart stopped, everyone's heads snapped up. I moved towards the window.

"Don't you dare!" Kygo growled. I sighed and moved away. Dela and Kygo jumped outside while Meeko and I had to stay in. Then, an idea hit me. I knew it was wrong but I had to do it, like Kygo said I was no use for him, just dead weight.

"Meeko, I'm thirsty. Can you go get the canister from Dela and bring it to me?" I asked innocently.

"Well, I'm not supposed to leave you alone." He said looking unsure.

"Where could I go in five minutes?" I questioned.

"Well, I guess that's true," Meeko admonished. I smiled as he got up. "now you stay here while I go get the water."

"I promise." I lied smoothly. As soon as he was out the door I grabbed a cotton bag stuffed it with all the food, clothes, and money I could find and jumped out the window. I ran as fast as I could from the small cart and people who supposedly didn't need me. I was free, and it was the most amazing feeling I had ever felt in my life.


	7. Chapter 7  Dark Nightmares

I ran as fast as I could through the forest. I did not know where I was going, but anything was better than back in that small cart with people who didn't seem to want me. I did not want pity though; I just wanted to be a little respected. Kygo had only known me for a couple of days and he was already starting to treat me like a plain woman. I was not just a woman! I was his mirror dragoneye, and even though I did not have power now, I would… eventually. _Crack! _I quickly dove into a pile of bushes nearby. I heard a voice coming closer, than another one. There were two men walking towards me. I chanced a look. I saw one; he was very tall and had black hair. The other was very lanky and was small compared to his companion. As they walked I noticed that the big one looked familiar. In an instant, the tall man pulled a silver knife from behind his back and ambushed the smaller one from behind. I watched the knife come down into the man's right shoulder. I winced has I heard the light thud of the blade hit flesh. He croaked and fell to his knees, staring up at his killer, before he landed in the decaying leaves and twigs. I smelled the release of urine, and tried not to gag.

"Well, now that's taken care of." The big one muttered. I recognized his voice, and shivered. I was stuck in the woods with Ido. My mind started to race. Should I stay hidden, or make my whereabouts known. I decided that I did not have enough food to last me long and I did not have shelter so he was probably my best chance.

"Ido, is that you?" I asked, stepping out of the bushes. I had to be careful; he did have a knife.

"Eona? You did not seem like the type to run away from friends." He stated bluntly, not surprised to see me.

"Well, his majesty and his resistance did not seem to enjoy my company." I muttered.

"That doesn't surprise me either. The people he put in charge of me did not seem too thrilled to have me there."

"Yes, but you did kill all the other dragoneyes and their apprentices. That can be a little intimidating," I replied with a hint of sarcasm, "anyway, I need help. I can't survive out here by myself. I did not have enough time to grab everything I needed. And I have no shelter."

"What makes you think I will help you?" he sneered.

"Well, were the last two dragoneyes, we both do not like Kygo, and as of right now do you really have a choice? I will follow you anyway, even if you do not wish for my company." I counted of my fingers. He looked at me for a few minutes, his eyes narrowed.

"Alright, but do not get in my way, and you must do what I tell you to do if we are in trouble, without asking why." He growled. I smiled and nodded.

It was mostly awkward, walking with Ido. I did not try to start a conversation, mostly because he seemed to be preoccupied with his own thoughts and I did not know what to say. We had been walking for a couple bells and my feet were blistered and sore and I could feel the sharp stomach pains of hunger start to set in, but I refused to complain.

"Look, there's a tavern up ahead. We can stay there for the night." Ido said. I glanced up at the tattered looking building we were going to stay in and frowned.

"Were going to stay in that?" I asked giving Ido a look.

"Yes we are." Ido answered in a matter of fact tone, getting some pleasure out of the fact that I did not want to rest there.

"Won't soldiers be there?" I questioned.

"No, they would stay in the taverns closer to the streets, not ones in the middle of a forest."

"Oh, well then let's get a move on." I muttered unenthusiastically.

The tavern was everything I thought it would be; cheap, dirty, and rundown. The owner could only give us a bedroom with one floor mat. He had told us that they were running low. He had brown teeth, a long nose like the foreign devils, and dark skin. He seemed nice, but a little stressed. With our luck he didn't seem to notice who we really were, but we still used fake identities and purposes. Once we settled in our small room Ido had food delivered.

"I think I saw a rat." I groaned, losing my feeling of hunger.

"This place is not exactly a lord's room, if you have not noticed." Ido stated without concern.

"How are we going to sleep." I asked.

"Well, first we are going to lay down, then close our eyes, and that's how most people sleep." Ido answered, the sarcasm dripping off his tongue

"You know what I mean!" I snapped. He laughed.

"You can sleep on the bedroll and I will sleep on the floor. Unlike you, I am not scared of rats. After all, I am the rat dragoneye. " Ido snickered.

"But you will be cold." I stated.

"Awe, Eona do actually care about me now." He laughed again. I glared at him while I chewed on a dumpling.

"You know, I think staying in that cart with Kygo wasn't so bad after all." I muttered. Again he laughed. I had never seen the man so care free. The thought made me smile.

I was falling through the clouds. Watching as the beautiful celestial dragons circled around me like acrobats in the air. The green tiger dragon swirled around me, his olive muzzle close to my face. Then the lavender claws of the ox dragon appeared in my peripheral vision. Next, my dragon, her stunning features blinding me, but there was sadness in her eyes, in all their eyes. They seemed to be trying to tell me something. Suddenly, a black wave swept through the sky, the dark energy crashing through me. I tried to scream, but it was useless. My lungs felt like they were on fire, I could not breathe. The dragons were nowhere in sight. I looked down feeling something snake around my ankles. The string of pearls from the black folio, they were holding me down, drowning me in _gan_-_hua. _I was shaking, cowering under the strength and heaviness that weighed down the cold air. I looked behind me, realizing that I was still in the sky. The ground was coming up fast, but I could do nothing but watch as I fall to my death. I closed my eyes tears running down my cheeks.

A bright light came into view, and then shapes and sounds. Men were standing over me. I looked up, the blurry figures coming into view and I could hear voices.

"What have you done to her?" an angry voice demanded. The voice sounded familiar…Kygo! How did he find us?

"I didn't do anything! I found her in the woods, we walked to this tavern, we ate, went to sleep, and I woke up to her screaming her lungs out!" That was Ido's voice.

"Keep it down! It's still late!" Dela snapped. I opened my eyes a little more, scared that they would be mad that I had run away, my dream already forgotten.

"Wait, she's waking up." Kygo shushed. I sat up and held my head. Slowly, I met each person's eyes. Ido was annoyed, Kygo and Dela were worried, Tozay was impatient, and Meeko uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry I ran away." I murmured. They all gave me a sympathetic, yet stern, look. Kygo looked down, as if to contemplate something.

"I apologize for treating you like you were unimportant. The truth is I'm not going to be able to win this war without you." I knew it took a lot of strength for him to say that.

"I was angry. I did not want to be watched after. I was bored and I couldn't talk to anyone." I explained.

Dela sighed, "Well, I can't blame you, but how did you end up with Ido?"

"We found each other in the forest. Apparently, he had run away also." I said.

"And what were you doing running away?" Tozay questioned Ido.

"I was bored. I needed something to do." Ido stated confidently.

"Yes, well the next time you become bored, just tell me and I will have a pair of dice and irons waiting for you." Tozay responded just as confident. I giggled.

"Apparently, boredom can make all of us do very mischievous things." I said.

"Yes, apparently it can." Kygo chuckled.

"Now for the real problem, why were you screaming so loud?" Ido asked, ignoring our banter. My smile faded and I turned away.

"I had a horrible dream," I murmured, "everything was dark and I was suffocating, and falling, and black energy was everywhere."

"Well, your fine now, we are all here with you and I will let nothing happen to you." Kygo whispered, Ido was glaring at him, looking anxious. Kygo went to pull me up, but Ido quickly stepped in front of him, wrapping his arm around my waist and yanking me up. He gave me a strange smile when he let me go. We all started to move towards the exit and as Kygo and Ido led me out of the small, dingy room I noticed Ido smirking at Kygo, and Kygo glaring at him. Why were they mad at each other? I shrugged, not wanting to dwell on their relationship.

**Okay, hopefully since this chapter was long you guys will forgive me for the very very late update on the last chapter; I had bad writers block and a summer job. Anyway, I WILL try better, but no promises. Please R&R! and thank you for all the reviews so far! They really do help **


	8. Chapter 8 Dillon's betrayal

We were back on the road, riding in the small cart. Ido and Kygo were riding by the cart on their borrowed horses. Tozay was walking beside Meeko, and Dela was in the cart with me. I looked out the small window, again having nothing to do but watch the scenery. I could not help but think about the nightmare I had had in the tavern with Ido. It had seemed the dragons were trying to tell me something. I sighed; it might have been just a dream. Even so I still needed to get the black folio. The last time I had seen it was with Dillon, but I do not know where to begin to even search for him. He could be anywhere. That was just another stress I had to deal with. I still did not know why the dragons were rejecting me. I breathed in slowly, tracing my pathways. My sight buckled and fell away into clear mind sight. I could see my dragon, her head swinging around to meet me. I felt her spirit brush mine, but I could not risk bringing back the other dragons. I looked over the north-northwest, the blue features of the rat dragon looking sullen and in pain. I looked around and saw that no other dragons were here. I looked back at my dragon studying her. She did not seem to do anything unusual, but who was I say that. She turned back to me, her eyes making her look sorrowful. I turned away from her, disappointed that I did not find anything. Slowly I receded back to my own mind and body.

"Have you found anything yet?" I questioned Dela from across the road. I was riding on one of the horses now, and even though I was a little scared of them, it was much more fun than sitting in the wagon.

"Nothing." She replied. Kygo was riding beside me on his own horse. He seemed to be preoccupied with his own thoughts. Ido was in the cart.

"Well, tell me when you do." I yelled back impatiently. If I could not find out what the problem was I would be of no use to his majesty or this war, for that matter. I looked around, trying to ignore the horses fidgeting.

"You seem tense, lady Eona. Is something wrong?" Kygo asked, startling me out of my panicked thoughts.

"No," I said quickly, "nothing is wrong I was just wondering about the dragons, that's all."

"You mean wondering why they block you from your dragon." He stated. I started at him for a moment, not wanting to answer him after his first reaction to the news.

"Y-yes." I stammered, even though I knew it was not a question.

"Well, I am sure you will find some way around it, you seem to be quite good at that." I ignored the last part of his statement.

"Perhaps." I replied, and with that I walked my horse around the carriage to Dela. She was preoccupied with the folio, her head bent close to the book. I did not want to interrupt her, but I did not want to go back to riding with his majesty and his denouncing comments. So I looked out upon the open fields, used for farming, which surrounded our little herd. If you looked closely you could see the owner's homes in the distance. I wanted badly to pick and eat the fresh fruits and vegetables in the crops and gardens, but I was certain that they would not like having a stranger eating their food that they worked hard to grow. My stomach growled just thinking about all the food I could devour. Then, I saw a flash of blue in one of the corn crops. At first I thought it to be the farmer or one of his many slave workers, but the figure running was too small to be a man. It had to be a child, but what child would be running through a corn field this close to the road. I saw another flash and a hint of the face. I knew that face! Dillon! He was here? But how could he be? Did he follow us? I jumped off the horse quickly maneuvering away from Dela's startled horse and into the corn field.

"Eona! Where are you going? Get back here, you shouldn't go into there!" Dela's cries were far behind me as I raced to catch up with Dillon. I had forgotten how fast he could run.

"Dillon, wait it is me, Eona!" I called after him. I suddenly came upon him, crashing into his body at full speed. Apparently, he had stopped when I had told him I was following him.

"Dillon, are you all right? I have been looking for you! Where have you been?" I spoke quickly, relief washing over me, the folio forgotten. He stared up at me, his gaze unsure and suspicious.

"Eona?" he asked still a little unsure. I smiled in my old way and he returned the smile, the happiness in his eyes making me want to throw my arms up in victory like a warrior who just won his first battle.

"Dillon, everything is alright now. Nothing can hurt you." I said, knowing my words were a lie, but I wanted to give him comfort. That's when I remembered we were not alone.

"Come, we must go to the others, their probably thinking I am crazy for running off like that." _Again. _I added in my head.

The bonfire was warm, but not warm enough to chase away the chill that was in the air. Everyone had been shocked when I had dragged Dillon out of the corn. Of course, Kygo had been furious that I Had so carelessly ran off after someone that I may or may not have known, but he had eventually simmered down. Ido was not happy about Dillon. He wanted to stay as far away from him as possible. I was just happy to have my friend back.

"Well, I think I am going to bed." I announced as I yawned. I heard a few murmured "good night's" before I walked back to my tent. As I rolled my blanket out and lay down under its soft embrace I started to think about how Dillon might have found us, then it hit me. Dillon would not have found us on his own he was never good at that sort of thing, and he couldn't have followed us, because we left the palace on a boat. We could have easily seen someone following us. But that left only one other option. He had gotten help while trying to track us. But why would he want to track us? _Maybe he just wanted to find you _I thought, but something in my gut was telling me something was not right. I got up intending to investigate Dillon, but a hand stopped me. The fingers closed around my mouth, choking off any sound. I tried to bite down on his hand but he quickly pulled me down, dragging me to the forest floor. I saw a shadowed face and blurred features, the figure reached into a bag hanging off of his shoulder and pulled out a jar of something that looked like green salt. He sprinkled the powder into my mouth forcing me to swallow. I choked on the dust, trying to spit it out. But it was no use, I was already fading into a dark abyss.


	9. Chapter 9 Surprise help

I heard a noise, the slam of a door. My eyes flew open, but it was so dark I could not make out anything. There was a horrid stench of urine, feces, and a metallic copper smell that could only come from blood. I tried to move my head to look around, that's when I realized I was chained to the floor, or maybe a wall. My senses felt so dull that I could not even tell up from down. Just breathe, in and out. Don't panic that will only make things worse. I tried to take my own advice but every time I breathed in my lungs felt like they were about to explode, and the odors did not help. A thumping sound refocused my attention. Footsteps coming in my direction, too heavy to be a women's. I looked in front of me, trying not to shake. The odors were not the only problem in my location, it was cold too. I could make out a light coming and two figures.

"Aye, she's awake!" the big man yelled, standing in front of me with a lit candle. He had a black beard, barley any teeth and appeared to be in his mid-thirty's. The other man was slight and young, an eunuch no doubt.

"Good, unhook her and bring her to the banquet room, our esteemed emperor wishes to see her immediately!" another guard yelled. I felt the boy and soldier lift me up and unlock the chains. I realized now that I had been hanging on a wall. My clothes were gone and all I had on was my undershorts and a flimsy white tunic, which with my luck, was probably see through. I felt the soldier put me on his back and carry me out of what appeared to be a cell. As we walked out I could see other prisoners, there features half hidden by shadow. Suddenly, I saw the light of the sun, and felt it's comforting heat. I sighed when the man finally put me down.

"His majesty wishes for us to get her cleaned up for the meeting." The other soldier said.

"We'll let the servants handle that part." The eunuch murmured.

"W-where are w-we going?" I stammered.

"Nowhere, now shut up!" the soldier yelled, his hand rose to hit me.

"NO! If you harm her he will get upset," the other insisted, "his majesty wants her alive and healthy." The man growled, but let me go.

After I had bathed and dressed I was escorted to the banquet room by seven guards. I sat down in a chair in front of a long table. I waited for a few minutes, unsure what to do. I couldn't run, my hands were cuffed to the floor with long chains that only allowed me to move my arms freely.

"Lady Eona, what a pleasant surprise." The voice was a cold monotone. I looked behind me to see High Lord Sethon. His scarred face stared at me, his eyes a dark brown. I shivered; it was just as cold in here as it had been in the cells. He smiled as he took a seat beside me.

"W-where are my friends," I asked, trying not to stutter "how did I get here?" His smile widened.

"I do not know where your friends are, I had my men bring only you."

"Why?" I whispered, too afraid to talk any louder.

"I needed only you." The way he said it made me wince, but a part of me was glad I was the only one he captured.

"How…?"

"Dillon." He cut me off. Of course, but why would Dillon do such a thing?

"Why did he do this," I questioned, "why would he betray us, betray me?" I already knew the answer; it had been the same at the ceremony, before all of this had happened. I had seen the relief on his face when I had told him I was not doing the mirror dragon third, he was only scared for himself and did not care about anyone else's welfare as long as he was safe. Anger flared through me like lightning. Sethon was quietly watching me from his seat, his lips curved to form a smile. "Where is he?" I shouted, unable to control my temper.

"He is still traveling with Kygo and his pathetic posse." He replied disdainfully. I looked around trying to think about something else, something that would take my mind off of the fact that I was stuck in the clutches of Sethon and my friends were traveling with a spy. Then a realization hit me.

"Why didn't you bring Kygo here too? Or Ido?"

"If I were to capture Kygo I would have to handle his army and his dragoneyes, not an easy task, and if I were to capture Ido he would easily escape using his power," he explained, "but with you they can do nothing, because if they try to do anything, I will hurt you, and they know that." I sighed, he was right. "Take Eona to her room." Sethon ordered one of his guards. I glanced up as his guards unlocked my chains and escorted me out of the banquet room. As we walked I noticed a shadow, I turned to see what it was, but the one of the guards shoved my head down. We walked for another few minutes when a dark shadow darted across the hall. We stopped.

"What the hell was that?" the big one asked.

"I don't know. Here you watch the girl and I'll check it out." The big guard stayed beside me while the other walked forward, keeping his sword raised. Suddenly, a big man with dark skin jumped out from behind the guard next to me and slit his throat. The other guard, unaware that his companion was dead, kept walking forward. The dark skinned man unsheathed a dagger and threw it at the guard. The weapon hit home, sinking to its hilt in the man's neck. I watched as the man fell to his knees, then a flash of memory. Ryko and I hiding in the bushes of the rat dragon hall, Ranne finding us and Ryko throwing and killing him with a dagger.

"Ryko?" I asked, leaning toward the islander. He walked out of the shadows a smile on his face. "Ryko! I thought you were dead!" I hollered as I ran to him.

"The physician was an ally of Sethon; he must have told you I was dead. I had wondered why you had left me at the tavern. Anyway, they had captured me and brought me here, but when I heard they had you I escaped from my cell, and now here I am."

"Oh Ryko, I'm sorry we would have never left you there if we had known, and thank the gods you are here. Dillon, Ido's apprentice, has switched sides and is now working for Sethon, and even worse he is out there with Kygo and the resistance, spying on them for Sethon. He is the reason I am here now." Ryko cursed under his breath.

"We have to get to them as fast as possible. Here follow me I know a way out." We ran down the hall and into one of the many bedrooms. "I know a secret chamber that only a few imperial guards know about," He said, "you that character on the door?" I turned and looked at the door. The character for hope was carved into the front, and was very small.

"What does it mean?" I asked curiously.

"If you ever see a door with that symbol on it that means it has a secret passageway inside it that leads to outside the palace." Ryko replied. I nodded. "Usually it is located behind a bookshelf or a door under rugs or furniture." I started looking and quickly found it under a red rug right in front of a chair.

"Ryko, right here!" I called. I threw the rug away and unlatched the wooden door built right into the floor. We both climbed through and went down some stairs. As soon as our feet hit the slimy, stone floor we ran.

I felt like we had been running for hours. The hall was dark and damp and reminded me a lot of the cells.

"How is Dela?" Ryko asked.

"I don't know. Last time I saw her she was okay." I replied.

"Eona, I need you to tell me everything that happened after you thought I had died. Here we can walk now." I slowed my pace to a walk, and quickly went over the events that had happened leading up to when I saw Ryko. By the time I was finished we were outside the palace and coming out of a porthole that lead to the bustling city. I looked around as we made our way through dark alley ways and on top of buildings. We did not talk much, only trying to concentrate of getting out of the city and away from prying eyes. I only hoped Kygo and the rest of my friends were alright.


	10. Chapter 10  Running with Ryko

Soldiers were everywhere. Sethon had made sure, once he found out we were gone, to have every swordsman in the city scouting for us. It took us nearly 3 hours to get out of the city. We had to duck into alleyways, hide in abandoned houses, and sometimes we would have no choice but to kill a soldier or two. It was hard to keep up with Ryko's relentless pace, but I pushed on and finally after a flat out sprint passed a group of four drunken foot soldiers, I had spotted the path that would lead us out. Of course we had to go through the forest; the path was too heavily used.  
>"We will have to steal some horses along the way." Ryko said as he looked out over the city from a tall tree he had climbed. I quickly climbed up after him and stood on a lower limb.<br>"Where are we going to find horses?" I asked.  
>"I know someone who might lend them to us, but he's going to need some motivation." I gave Ryko a perplexed look.<br>"What kind of motivation?"

"Please take whatever you need!" the old, scraggly man whimpered as Ryko held him by the Collar of his tunic. I did not feel sorry for the man, for as soon as we had stepped foot in front of his dull looking cottage, which was located in the middle of the woods; he had shot me with an arrow! Ryko said I was lucky I only got hit in the side of my left calf, but I did not feel lucky for it was an excruciating pain that ran up my leg, similar to the pain I had felt with my hip, but much worse, so much worse that walking was not even an option. So there I sat in this awful mans kitchen watching Ryko scare him into giving us horses, with an arrow sticking out of my calf.  
>"I'm sorry I shot your daughter, Ryko I did not know if you were Sethon's soldiers or that you even had a daughter." the old man pleaded. Ryko and I agreed that our story would be that he was my father and I, his daughter, and if anyone were to ask we were leaving to find a safer home to live in, and even though he supposedly knew the man from his past life, he still told him the lie.<br>"It does not matter what's done is done, Heelo, and there is nothing we can do about it now! Just give us your two fastest horses!"  
>"Th-there in the stable," Heelo murmured, "the two bays." Ryko half dragged half carried the old man into a room out off my line of sight.<br>"Lady Eona, stay here." Ryko ordered as he walked passed me a few minutes later.  
>"What about the man..." he cut me off.<br>"He's dead." Ryko stated as if it meant nothing.  
>"How? Did you kill him?" I questioned. Ryko's voice softened,<br>"Listen, do not worry about it, just focus on keeping your leg from bleeding out," he gave me an unsure glance, "we are going to have to wait until we find a physician." then he sauntered out the door. At first I tried to tie something around it but with the arrow protruding out, I couldn't. I had to get it out, but how? How were we going to get this arrow out of my leg? There was only one way, we were going to have to cut it out. At first I just sat there waiting for Ryko, but Then I had a thought, he would never let me cut it out, he wanted me to wait until we got to a physician. I was on my own. I jumped into action, trying not to think about what I was about to do. I grabbed a washing cloth, and took out one of the knifes Ryko gave me a few hours ago. I put the cloth in my mouth and bit down hard, and then I positioned my leg on a table, and as fast as I could drove the knife into my calf right where the arrow punctured the skin and muscle. My vision blurred, and tears of agony dripped down my face, but I ignored them as I wrenched the knife down and cut open a slit In my leg, then with a gentle tugging I pulled the bloody arrow free. I quickly grabbed the cloth from my mouth and pushed it against the now gory hole in my leg, and put the knife back in the sash of the ugly brown dress I was wearing. The pain was indescribable, and I was close too blacking out, until I heard Ryko's voice near the door.  
>"Okay, I have the horses ready, I don't know how you're going to ride with the arrow in your leg, but we'll... Holy gods what did you do?" Ryko yelled at me. He ran to my slumping form and carried me to one of the horses throwing me on its back and tied the other one to the back of the saddle. At first I was confused, why are we leaving so soon? Then I saw my wound, it was pouring blood and it would not stop!<br>"Wha-what's happening?" I stuttered.  
>"I have found out the location of his majesty, he is on a boat to the islands." What? How can that be? It would take us at least a week to catch up to them!<br>"Is Dillon with them?" I croaked.  
>"No he ran away from them as soon as you were captured, I saw him in the palace with Sethon"<br>"Well that's good, wait how did you know where Kygo was?"  
>"I had sent a letter, by bird, to his majesty a few days ago, he replied with his location and questions about you." Ryko kicked the horse, and it galloped away from the cottage. I tried very hard to stay alert, but after a few minutes I started to slip into unconsciousness.<br>"Eona! You have to stay awake." Ryko's voice jolted me out of my black haven.  
>"We have to get you to a physician, what in Shola's name made you do this?" it took me awhile to answer.<br>"I...Don't know."  
>"Well, your braver then any man I've ever met, no person I know would cut open there own leg just to get an arrow out." Ryko stated with a faint smile.<br>"You must think me insane." I muttered. He chuckled,  
>"If you have not noticed by now, my lady, we are all a little insane."<br>After that I blacked out.

I awoke in a cotton bed, with a rough blanket strewn across my naked body. I was in some type of tent. Why am I naked? Just then I heard sounds and pulled the cloth tightly around me.  
>"When is she going to wake, Secile." Ryko's voice said somewhere outside the make shift tent.<br>"It's hard to say, but she's doing well, if you had waited a minute later she would have died of blood loss." a man, I think Secile, murmured. He had a very soft voice that seemed familiar. I heard a flap open, and was greeted by a very pudgy, short man that looked to be maybe 30. That's when I noticed why his voice sounded so familiar, he was an eunuch.  
>"Ryko, your friend is awake." Secile called, in his velvet tone.<br>"Lady Eona, you are awake!" Ryko smiled.  
>"Ryko, what happened, the only thing I remember is you and me riding on a horse and you telling me that the emperor is on a boat..." I trailed off aware of Secile's presence. I looked at Ryko then back to Secile, asking the question.<br>"It is alright, my lady, he is a physician for the resistance, his majesty left him behind after I sent him the letter, telling him that we had escaped."  
>"Did he know about my injury?"<br>"No, but I told him it would be a good precaution to send a physician and I was right." Ryko said.  
>"What about my leg, how did you fix it? And how long have we been here?" I directed the question at Secile.<br>"I simply poured alcohol on the wound, for any infections, and stitched it up. It took about thirteen stitches, and you have been here for about two days."  
>"Yes, lady Eona, it took us a day to get here, and we have stayed two days." Ryko replied.<br>"A day later and you would have bleed to death." Secile said gravely.  
>"Thank you Secile," I replied genuinely, "I am in your debt."<br>"You are very welcome, my lady." he gushed with a proud smile.  
>"Now that everything is in order, we will need more horses." Ryko demanded.<br>"What happened to our other horses?" I asked, dumbfounded by what could have happened to our horses in just three days.  
>"They died of exhaustion." Ryko answered.<br>"Oh I might have a few," the pudgy man murmured in thought, "take your pick, there in the stable, near the entrance."  
>"Thank you. My lady, your clothes are over there, we will leave you to dress.<p>

After I got up and dressed, I quickly exited the tent that I was staying in, and walked around. We were in a camp in the forest. There were a few hundred residence fighters still around, Ryko had told me that his highness had left behind some fighters to strip the land , so if Sethon settled his armies there they would have no resources to survive. It was rumored that Sethon was sending his armies to the islands to battle his young nephew, I guess those rumors were true. I walked around for a good hour, when something caught my eye.  
>"Damn animal!" an ugly looking man yelled while he tried to restrain a small horse with a rope. There was another man, much more slender than his unattractive friend, holding a sword watching as the small, bruise colored beast wriggled and kicked on the ground trying to get the rope off.<br>"Can't you kill it now? I don't have all day to wrestle this piece of shit!" the ugly man roared.  
>"Hey! What are you doing?" I yelled. I was no lover of horses but this was no way to treat a perfectly fine animal.<br>"Lady Eona," the two men bowed low, "we are just about to kill this horse."  
>"Why?" my voice high and peevish sounding.<br>"Because, my lady, he is useless, his leg is lame."  
>I don't know why, maybe because I was once lame, but I did not want to see the beast die.<br>"Do you have to kill it?" the horse was looking at me now, its eyes filled with determination.  
>"We've tried to sell it, but nobody wants the animal."<br>I sighed; I knew I was going to get in trouble for the next thing that was going to come out of my mouth.  
>"I'll buy him." well no stopping now.<br>"But, my lady, he is useless." the slender man explained.  
>"I said I will buy him. How much do you want?" I asked, determined.<br>"No need, my lady, he is worthless. You can have him." the ugly man said, handing me the rope. He and skinny friend bowed and started to walk away. The horse quietly stood up and shook the dust off him. He then proceeded to lick my face. I groaned as his rough tongue slid over my cheek.  
>"Well I guess I'm stuck with you."<br>I muttered. Just then I spotted Ryko coming towards me.  
>"I have everything ready, we will leave tomorrow, and why are you holding that scrawny horse?"<br>"These two men were going to kill him, so I kind of intervened and here we are." I explained.  
>"Can you at least ride him?"<br>"I don't know, they said he was lame." I said quietly. Ryko sighed loudly.  
>"Why am I not surprised! Well he's yours so you're going to have to try."<p>

"Are you sure about this." I asked nervously.  
>"Well you bought him so he's yours, which means you have to ride him."<br>"Okay." Ryko pushed me on the bruise colored horses back. I sat there for a minute, the horse was small, a perfect size for me. Ryko had washed him and had put a saddle and a simple bridle on the horse. He said that the beast was lame because he had not been ridden in a long time; he also said that if I rode him long enough that his legs would straighten out. So there I sat with my hands tightly gripping the reins and my feet stuffed in the stirrups, with my knees squeezing the poor animal's stomach. Ryko had given me a few pointers and had taken us to a big meadow for me to practice in. The horse seemed calm enough, so I just started at a walk, while Ryko stayed in the center of the field.  
>"Okay, I can do this." I murmured to myself. The horse ignored me and kept walking. As we made circles around the meadow Ryko called to me with tips like: keep your hands up, if you keep your heels down your feet will stay in the stirrups better.<br>Suddenly, I heard a sound. Ryko spun around towards the north side of the meadow.  
>"Soldiers." Ryko whispered. That's all I needed to hear for me start to panic, my horse started to fidget and step sideways I pulled on the reins while still looking at Ryko, a man came running at us with a white stallion in his hand. Secile.<br>"Ryko! Sethon's men have attacked I grabbed your horse and came down here as fast as I could." he handed the reins to Ryko and without missing a beat Ryko swung himself into the saddle.  
>"Thank you, Secile, for everything, Lady Eona kick your horse and head north, and hang on. I will be right behind you."<br>I quickly drove my heels into the horse's stomach, but was unprepared for the burst of speed that came from the small animal. In just a few minutes the horse had us zooming through the forest, luckily in the right direction. We rode until nightfall, and I didn't slow the pace of my horse until I heard Ryko call out.  
>"Slow down!" Ryko yelled from behind me. I pulled tightly on the reins, like Ryko had taught me. The horse gave an annoyed snort and jumped a little before coming to a stop. Ryko rode up beside me on his white stallion and laughed.<br>"What are you laughing about?" I asked, confused.  
>"That animal is far from lame! Did you see how fast he ran?"<br>"I thought all horses ran that fast." I said.  
>"Only the good ones, how much did you pay for the beast?" Ryko asked. I replayed the story to him,<br>"Nothing, these two men were going to kill him, but I stopped them and I said I would buy the horse, but they just gave him to me."  
>"Well, I guess we might as well name him, if we're going to keep him," Ryko said, hopping off his own horse and looking around, " we'll set up camp here. I think were safe for now."<p>

"Good, I guess I'll name him…Mojo." I replied with a smile.

"Mojo? What kind of name is that?" Ryko asked with a laugh.

"A good name, I think." The horse whinnied; I'd like to think in approval to his new name.


	11. Chapter 11 Ido's surprise friendship

"We are almost to the islands, your majesty." a small man said to us as he bowed low.  
>"Thank you, Des." Kygo replied, in thought. We were both standing at the bow of the ship, me of course in shackles. Kygo was taking his small band of men to the eastern islands to fight Sethon's armies. I chuckled; it's going to be a massacre.<br>"What's so funny, lord Ido?" the emperor asked with one of his brows raised suspiciously.  
>"You can't possibly think you're going to win this war." I laughed.<br>"We will with the help of my mirror dragoneye and the hua-do of my men." he said this with confidence, but I saw the spark of doubt in his eyes.  
>"Correction, you hope you will, and she is not your dragoneye." I growled. I didn't like thinking about Eona. After she was kidnapped, Kygo had every last soldier looking for her. I was the first to notice Dillon's absence; we soon found out that Dillon had been a spy. I sighed, we now knew that Eona was with her islander friend, but they were so far away, what If she didn't make it? What if Sethon did something to her? What if...stop it! Why do you care? This is not your cause; you should not worry about some girl! Even if she is beautiful, and strong, and...STOP!<br>"She is not yours either." Kygo replied, dragging me out of my disturbing thoughts.  
>"I don't know about that," I smiled wryly, "she did come to me when you made her feel unwanted, and we spent a whole night together, perfectly at ease." I knew he liked her but I also knew he would be the death of her, she needed someone strong, smart, who loved her...I groaned, I was stuck in her web and I could not get out.<br>"Yes and look what happened! I found her on a filthy bed roll, screaming like a howler monkey because of a nightmare!" Kygo shot back.  
>"True, but her dream was about the dragons and who would better understand her nightmares than a dragoneye?"<br>He growled then shouted, "It doesn't matter, I love her and I would do anything for her!"  
>"Really then who was the whore you were rolling around with back at the tavern?" I was angry now and...jealous?<br>"How do you know about that?" he asked, taken aback.  
>"Eona told me when we were alone! She saw you!" I smiled, I had him now.<br>"She was nothing just some girl! I love Eona I would never hurt her!"  
>"How? You've only known her for a few months and part of that was her masquerading as a boy!" My voice was viciously low.<br>"Why do you care?" Kygo barked out the question. I don't know, no that's a lie, I do know.  
>"Because I love her too!" I confessed, wait did I say that out loud? Oh well, it's out now and I can't take it back.<br>"What?" a quiet voice murmured behind us. We both turned to see Meeko, Tozay's son, bow quickly to Kygo.  
>"What is it Meeko?" Kygo asked, acting as if the boy had not heard us arguing.<br>"It is going to take longer than expected to dock. The tide is unusually strong because of a storm, most honorable emperor." he murmured in a low voice.  
>"Thank you." Kygo replied. With that Meeko bowed and backed away.<br>"Do you really think Eona would want you?" Kygo sneered, carrying on with the argument. Kygo was right. Eona would never want to be with me when she could have royalty. Then a thought came into my head.  
>"Not at first, I would have to wait a few months until all your concubines were with your child and she would still be a virgin. Then she would see you for who you really are. Then she would leave you and come looking for a shoulder to cry on, me." I finished off my meager speech with a sly grin. Kygo just glared before he called for Fikk, a rather aggressive imperial soldier who came with Kygo from the coup, and ordered him to take me to my cabin, well more like a dungeon, below the deck. I saw him lean in close to Fikk's face and whisper something in his ear. I knew what that meant. Every time I angered Kygo, which was on a daily basis, he would order one of his guards to torture me for at least four hours. 'I wonder what awaits me today', I thought sarcastically.<p>

I clenched my teeth together, riding out the pain. Fikk had decided my punishment would be slicing of the skin. They would take a small,  
>Thin cutting blade and make slight incisions down my back. Each one felt like a swarm of hornets stinging me repeatedly. They had been slicing me for over four hours now, and it was becoming unbearable. I was about to pass out from the pain when I heard a panicked gasp. I glanced up and was shocked to see the contraire. She looked horrified before I heard her Say, "let him go."<br>Fikk shook his head, "can't without orders from his majesty." Dela glared at the man.  
>"It's been 5 hours, you have practically destroyed his back, let him go." Fikk looked at his men for a moment before nodding to them and walking out the door. One of the men took the shackles that held me up off of me. I sucked in a gasp as my weight hit the floor. my back was pure fire, the heat of the pain almost too much to bear. I fell on my stomach and tried to hold back a scream, out of all the sick things Fikk has done to me this was the most painful, and the cuts would never go away. I must have really struck a chord with the royal prick, I thought. I writhed in agony for minutes, seeing Dela's silhouette above me before I finally slipped into a peaceful abyss.<p>

"Lord Ido, you must wake up." I heard a Voice say over me. I opened my eyes and saw lady Dela looking at me, her thin brows creased in worry. "Oh thank Shola, you're finally awake!" I groaned and looked around. I was in a cabin, similar to my own except there was feminine clothing and jewelry.  
>"Where am I?" I asked.<br>"You are in my cabin; I thought you would like it in here, since your cabin floor is covered in blood."  
>"Oh, well I need to go." I murmured, uncomfortable with the contraire's undeserved kindness. I sat up trying to get out of the bed, but Dela put a hand on my chest and shoved me back onto the cot. I realized that a Gauzy cloth was wrapped around my back and torso.<br>"What happened while I was indisposed?" I questioned.  
>"Well after you passed out Meeko and I took you and put you on my bed, I summoned the physician to come and check you over. He said that you would be unconscious for the rest of the night because of the amount of blood you lost and that you will have over 300 scars on your back," she gave a sympathetic smile before she mumbled, "and his majesty would like to talk to you."<br>"What? No, he's the one who did this to me! I refuse to talk to that whoreson!" I yelled, fury driving me off the bed and across the room. I could feel the cuts stretch and the pain start to return but ignored it.  
>"Ido, you must sit down or the incisions will start to bleed again!" Dela commanded. Despite my anger I listened to her instructions, I did not want to fall back into unconsciousness and become vulnerable again. I heard a heavy knock on the door and quickly sat down on the bed. Dela got up and answered the door, bowing low when it was fully opened.<br>"Lady Dela, I would like a moment with you outside." great, I thought, the ass is back. The contraire stepped outside with Kygo and closed the door. All I heard for the few minutes they were out there were mumbled words. Kygo abruptly opened the door and stepped in. I didn't want to just lie here, doing nothing, but the pain seemed to reappear with my anger. Kygo stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, before finally speaking, "I want to talk to you."

"Well, that's obvious." I smirked, happy that he was uncomfortable.

"Okay look, I'm not here to apologize, I'm here because I have found that we have a common interest." He smiled.

"What might that be?" I asked suspiciously.

"Eona. We both want to find her correct?"

"I guess." That was an understatement; I did want to find her, badly.

"Well what if we were to work together to find her." He inquired with a hopeful smile. I considered his offer. It would help me find Eona quicker, but I still was not sure.

"If you haven't noticed were on a boat. How are we going to find someone who is supposedly leagues away?" I questioned.

"Tozay says that we have to turn the boat around, there is a storm coming and we cannot sail through it; it would tear the junk apart." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Fine, when we reach the coast we will work together," I said the word begrudgingly, "to find Eona."

"Good, I will come later to sort out the details of our new arrangement." With that he left. Well now what do I do? I thought. Dela had not come back after Kygo left and I was not sleepy for obvious reasons. I did not seem to be hungry either, even though there was a bowl of soup and stale bread on tray beside my cot. I decided I would check on my dragon, since I had not had to do that in awhile. I took deep breaths and closed my eyes, trying to snatch that peaceful weightlessness I felt whenever I slipped into the energy world. I opened my eyes and smiled everything below me was transparent. I smelled the sweet vanilla orange that was the essence of the rat dragon, and my smile widened. Above me was the majestic indigo beast. He dropped his massive head and looked at me with never ending eyes that seemed to hold the whole universe. I could see just under his thick white beard, the milky blue pearl. I gasped as the memories came bubbling back up to the fore front of my mind, power, ambition, betrayal, worthlessness. My father yelling that I was a disgrace, my mother dying slowly from a sickness I did not understand, latching onto the pearl in an unforgiving arena, finding a black book that would give me power, and respect, another book, one that I could not uncover. A man with a black beard and unforgiving amber eyes, my eyes. I struggled to fight off the thoughts; I did not want to go back to that, to turn back into a monster. I opened my eyes and stared at the blue beast. Then turned to look at the mirror dragon, the magnificent queen studied me, her eyes narrowing in the process. I abruptly straightened all unwanted thoughts gone. I exhaled softly still caught in the female's eyes. She seemed to be comforting me. I nodded my head in thanks and she, surprisingly returned the nod. A sudden lurching motion returned my focus to the earthly plain, my eyes snapped open and I realized I was back in Dela's bed. Another lurch made me fall out of the bed. I quickly jumped to my feet and pulled on some loose cotton trousers, not bothering to put on a shirt. I made my way out of the cabin to find that the hall was empty. I ran down the narrow space and up the stairs that led to the deck and found that everyone was up there, and by the look on their faces something had gone wrong. I made my way to the bow of the ship, carefully maneuvering around people. I finally was able to find Kygo and Tozay staring off into the distance.

"What is going on." I called over the distress of the crowd.

"Were not going to out sail the storm." He said grimly.

"Well how bad is this storm?"

"It's manifested into a cyclone." Tozay said.

"So we're just going to stand here and wait to die?" I questioned.

"No, I have people lowering the masts and right now I'm trying to get people below the deck. So far no one is budging." Kygo yelled back.

"I can help with that." I responded. I climbed up onto one of the thick wooden railings of the ship and called out over the crowd, "Everyone, if you do not get below deck soon, you will be ripped apart limb by limb, first the winds will knock you over board and into the freezing waters, then the tide will be so strong that it will tear you into tiny pieces and the sharks will eat you," as I said this people immediately started pushing each other out of the way trying to get below deck, "if you're lucky enough to stay on deck you will be torn apart by the winds or drown in the cold, never ending rains." When I had finished the deck was empty of everyone except Kygo, who was tying a rope around one of the sails so it would not fly away in the storm.

"Thank you." Kygo said as I came to stand beside him. I ignored him as I helped tie the sail down. We had just finished when the rain began to pelt us. I started to walk towards the door that would lead farther down into the ship when I realized Kygo was not following me. I turned and saw that Kygo was tangled in a net. I groaned and walked over to help him out, when a flash of lightning, and a chorus of thunder stopped me in my tracks, the storm was here.


	12. Chapter 12 stranded at sea

The winds were strong as I tried to get to Kygo. The boat rocked back and forth on the angry ocean and I slipped several times on the gray water that had splashed onto the deck. "Kygo," I yelled over the booming thunder, "where are you? I can't see you through the rain!"

"Ido, I'm at the bow of the ship, a few paces in front of you!" I barely heard his voice.

"I'm coming, just hold on." I followed his instructions and sure enough a few minutes later I felt the sleeve of his tunic. We both held on to each other's arms as another cold blast of wind roared past us, daring us to stand against its fury. We were both drenched and the only thing I could see was Kygo's panicked brown eyes. After the gust of wind had passed I tried to untangle him from the net, but I only made it worse. I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked up, Kygo's lips were moving, but I could hear no sound. I shook my head and motioned to my ear, indicating that I could hear nothing.

"Just leave me!" He yelled louder. My brow furrowed, another memory flooded before my eyes; me standing in front of a man cowering below me, a gash on his cheek. 'You can leave him,' a dark voice whispered in my head, 'leave him to die, he would do the same to you, as soon as he sees Eona he will take her from you.' I growled and tried to fight against the monster locked inside me. I felt a hand grab onto my arm and pull me down. That was enough to end the inner battle, for now. Kygo had somehow freed himself from the net and was now dragging me to a small tender hanging on the side of the boat, the closest thing we could find to shelter. We both jumped in as the wind started to pick back up. The wooden boat creaked and swung back and forth as we crouched down in it. Suddenly, the rain started to decrease and the wind died down.

"We're in the eye of the storm." Kygo murmured, glancing up at the sky.

"We have to get below deck now!" I grabbed the rope that we could use to climb back on board and felt a small vibration through the braiding. I glanced up confused by the strange feeling and my body locked in shock. Above us was a man in a black robe, his face covered with a black hood. He was using a red jeweled dagger to cut the rope.

"What is wrong?" Kygo asked, confused by my sudden behavior.

"He's cutting the rope," I mumbled, then found my voice, "he's cutting the rope, Kygo!" Kygo looked up at my words and cursed.

"Oy! Who the hell are you?" He didn't answer Kygo question; he just began to cut faster.

"We have to do something!" I shouted.

"What are we supposed to do, Ido? We don't have any weapons; we can't climb the rope obviously, so tell me what are we supposed to do?" Kygo was pacing in the small boat, well trying to pace.

"We sit down, hold tight, and pray to Shola we don't die." our boat started to tip downward as the hooded man came closer to cutting through the twine. Time seemed to slow down after the rope broke. I held onto Kygo's sleeve and yanked him down beside me as the tender fell. We hit the water with so much force that I was nearly thrown out of the boat. As the dinghy began to settle I finally stood up and looked around. My back was aching but, it was bearable. The rain had returned and the barge was already leagues away, and to top it all off we didn't have an oar!

"Well this is just great!" Kygo shouted, he glanced at me and paused a look of realization on his face, "You didn't leave me to die, maybe I had misjudged you." His statement took me by surprise.

"Don't think too much into it, I was only helping you because Tozay would have killed me if he found out I had just left you there to die." It seemed I was trying to convince myself of this fact, more so them him.

"Of course." He said with a knowing grin. He sat down across from me and sighed. " What do we do now?" he asked.

"We wait." I replied.

_2 days after the storm._

"Is it wrong that I want to kill you?" I asked in a scratchy voice, we had been sitting in a tender for the last two days with nothing but each other's company.

"I apologize; It was not my intention to get caught up in that net! It just happened!" Kygo defended himself. "Where are we anyway?"

"Somewhere in the middle of the ocean," I sat there for a minute trying to find a way to distract myself from the unbearable heat, finally I decided to just start asking random questions, "do you think this is how we would die?"

"No, I always thought I would die an emperor sitting on my throne with a sickness that could not be cured, but this is a lot more adventurous." He responded.

"Hmm, good point. I would rather die in an adventure then die of boredom." He nodded. We seemed to drift back into our own thoughts.

"What's it like to be a dragoneye, to see the amazing beasts?" Kygo's sudden question took me by surprise, he was doing that a lot lately. I sat in thought for a few minutes, trying to gather my thoughts, before finally answering his inquire.

"It is a blessing and a curse, a blessing because you are praised and respected and have power, but at the same time a curse because you will always want more; more praise, more respect, and most importantly more power. It will never be enough and when you give up your dragon to your apprentice, it is the worst feeling a man can ever feel."

"What does it feel like?" Kygo asked, sounding like a curious child.

"Emptiness, pure and utter emptiness. It is like the dragon takes everything from inside of you. They created the staminata to help cope with the loss, but it does not work. It might make you feel better from time to time, but it will never bring your dragon back." I sighed, I was not to keen for that date to come, for me to give up my power, but I knew it would happen eventually.

"I have heard of the staminata, my father told me about it. A series of motions made to help balance the burden of being a dragoneye and to help cushion the shock of being separated from your dragon. I did not know it was that bad though." He mumbled the last part.

"Next question," I said trying to bring back that joking aura that we had had, "Do you have friends outside the palace? True friends that like you for who you are and not because you have money and power?"

"No, but now I would like to think that maybe…never mind." He looked out onto the ocean and sighed.

"Maybe what? Come on you have to tell me!" now I was curious.

"Okay, but promise not to laugh."

"I promise, I won't laugh." I responded quickly.

"I thought that maybe… you were my friend, you used to be my enemy, but you can be funny and you seem to understand things about me better than most, I know that I hated you before, but now that I have gotten to know you, you do not seem that bad." I stared at him for a moment.

"I think of you as a friend as well," I replied awkwardly. After that things were quiet. He and I coughed every now and then but other than that we did not talk. I had always thought that Kygo was just some spoiled prick who had no respect for anyone below him. Now I know that he is really just a kid that had major responsibility thrust upon him. He had a good sense of humor and had no friends as far as I knew. Kygo was really trying to follow in his father's footsteps and try to make something good come out of a bad situation. Maybe I had judged him wrong, but there was still that Eona problem.

"What are we going to do if we happen to find Eona?" I ask.

"I don't know, but can I tell you something?" Kygo looked somewhat ashamed.

"It's your call." I say.

"I do not know if I truly love Eona or if I love her because you do. Does that make sense?" Kygo looked at me with confusion in his eyes.

"Yes, an object is always more desirable when another man wants it, but Kygo I do know that I love her. Ever since she healed me with her hua I have loved her. She could have easily killed me for what I put her through, for what I had done to her, and yet she showed mercy and kindness." I thought back to the night that the empire was taken over. Kygo and I were both slouched just staring at the bottom of the tender in thought. I let my hand slip over the edge of the boat and ran it through the water. I pulled up my hand and looked over at it. Sand was slipping through my fingers. Wait, sand was slipping through my fingers!

"Kygo!" I yelled, shaking him from his comatose state. "Look! Sand!" Kygo quickly stood up next to me and we both looked around. Our boat was a few feet away from the coast. We would not die! We both jumped out into the salty water and used what was left of our strength to pull the dinghy on shore! I fell back into the small boat and looked over to see Kygo smiling as he sat down next to me.

"Hey Ido, can we keep what we said to each other on the boat between us?" Kygo requested.

"Yes! What we said back there was just the ramblings of two hungry, thirsty idiots." I smiled and he returned the smile.

"Now we just need to find Eona and Ryko." He said, determined.

_Eona's POV_

"Ryko, where are we going?" I called to the figure ahead of me. We had been riding for two days and had finally reached the coast. Mojo had turned out to be a very good investment, the little horse seemed to go for days with little food or water, but had quite the attitude.

"We will keep heading west until we hit the ocean, then we will stop and camp for the night, I think I might be able to steal a big enough boat so we can take the horses, but we will have to see if we can find one with enough resources to feed the beasts and us." Ryko had grown quite fond of the white stallion Secile had given him. I looked at my surroundings, trees with strange brown fruits were everywhere, Ryko had told me that the fruits were called coconuts, and had milk inside them. At first I thought he had been joking, but he had knocked one down and cracked it open with a rock, and sure enough he was right, there was milk inside. There were also small monkeys and lizards that running about, but they did not bother me as much as the eight legged, small creature that crawled around on trees and on invisible nets that Ryko told me were called webs. I tried to avoid those even though he told me they were harmless. Other than that the forest was beautiful. Flowers of all kinds of colors and shapes were all around; Plants that ate flies and, had large thorns, and others that only opened at night. Mojo didn't seem to mind any of it; he just walked on ignoring the massive insects flying about his ears. It was then I heard a faint yell. I looked up, expecting it to Ryko, but he seemed just as alert. We both heard it again. Ryko quickly pulled his reins to his chest and dismounted. He walked his horse to me and handed me the reins, telling me silently with his eyes to hold the stallion while he went to go check out the noise. I nodded and gripped them firmly while still holding my own. Mojo did not seem to enjoy the closeness of the stallion, he shook his head and snorted a few times.

"Mojo, be nice!" I whispered to him and stroked the side of his neck. That seemed to calm him down.

"Eona, quickly come, and bring the horses!" I heard Ryko shout from the right of me. I followed his voice until I came to an opening that led me to the ocean's edge, but that was not what caught my eye. Kygo and Ido were both standing by a small boat. They looked starved and sunburned. Ryko was studying the tender they came in.

"Eona!" they shouted as they saw me. I dismounted and tied both the horses to a nearby tree and ran to meet them.


	13. Chapter 13 Reunited

**Disclaimer: I do not own Eon or Eona. Trust me if I did, Ido would still be alive!**

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. "What are you two doing here?" I jumped into Kygo's arms and crushed him to me. I didn't care if it wasn't proper etiquette. No matter how much we had fought, I had still missed him.

"It is a long story, I will it explain it later." Kygo chuckled in my ear as he squeezed me to him. Ido growled something under his breath and I immediately turned my attention to him. He simply smiled his odd smile and turned his head away, but I had missed him just as much as Kygo and leaped into his arms, much to his surprise.

"Eona," he started to protest, but it seemed to die in his mouth as he hugged me back, "I missed you." I gasped at Ido's confession, I never thought Ido would miss me, let alone admit it. I let go of him after a few stolen moments of holding each other. Ryko and Kygo had stood by the pathetic excuse of a boat he and Ido had arrived in, awkwardly pretending to observe it.

"Lady Eona and I were just about make camp, if you will all stay in the woods, I will sneak into the small village near here and swipe some supplies for us." Ryko suggested. Kygo and Ido nodded, while Ryko grabbed Mojo and started to walk him towards us. Kygo gave my horse a demeaning look. "Where did you find this animal?" Kygo questioned.

"It doesn't matter where I found him, he is mine and I am keeping him!" I declared. Kygo just rolls his eyes and laughs.

"Of course, I should have known he was yours." I smile as Kygo smiles at me. It feels nice not to fight with him every time we try to have a conversation.

"Ryko, why are you taking my horse?" I inquired.

"The stallion will bring unwanted attention, besides if I need a quick escape; your horse is the fastest." and with that he mounted and rode off towards the small town.

"Eona, do mind explaining what happened to your leg?" Ido demanded once Ryko was out of sight. I just realized they were both staring at my now exposed leg. The pants I was wearing were ripped, and were now showing off my stitching and bandaging.

"I will just tell you everything." I stated simply. So I launched into how I was kidnapped, and when I was shot in the leg by that senile man, then to how Secile had helped me. Kygo was frowning most of the time and Ido seemed just as unhappy by the tale. "And that is how Ryko and I ended up here, but what I can't fathom is how you two got here and why Ido is not wearing a tunic."

"Let me explain..." Ido started with a smirk, but Kygo cut him off.

"No, let me explain!" Kygo growled.

"You will leave out important parts, like how you gave me three hundred scars on my back!" Ido motioned to the dirty gauze wrapped around his torso.

"Kygo did what?" I shouted, shocked that my emperor would do something so cruel. 'Wait, when did I decide he was mine?'

"Oh, come now, Eona! Ido deserved it, you of all people should know this." Kygo defended himself.

"Ido, show me the scars." I asked. Ido slowly stood and started to free the gauze from around his red chest and waist. I was horrified when he finally turned around. There were little incisions up and down his back, each one at least an inch long.

"Kygo," I shouted, "why did you do that?" Kygo glared back. Ido laughed, I assumed it was because I was at mad at someone other than him.

"I am the emperor! If he does not wish to follow my laws he will be punished."

"Ido, what did you do?"

"Nothing, your emperor here is just mad because I lo..." he stopped suddenly, both him and Kygo exchanging strange looks."Never mind," he said sharply. I was confused and a little suspicious, but I let it go, not wanting to get between Ido and his majesty.

"I will explain, and I will not to leave anything out." Kygo promised, Ido grumbled something, but kept his mouth shut. So, Kygo began his story and by the time it was over I was in shock.

"You two spent two days on boat together and did not kill each other? I am impressed." I laughed.

"Well it was not easy." Ido muttered.

"No, it was not" Kygo agreed, "but what I'm worried about is the traitor on the boat. How are we going to warn Tozay?" I shrugged; there was nothing we could do.

By the time Ryko came back the sun had fell from the sky, and Kygo and Ido had a small fire that they made out of wood from the boat, and some matches Ryko had in his saddle bag. "Good news, there are not many soldiers in the village, so we might be able to camp out here for awhile." Ryko said, as he sat beside me around the fire. I was confused, why would we want to wait here? Why not steal a boat and leave as soon as possible? I was about to voice this to Ryko, but he seemed to sense my distress. "I have contacted Tozay; he has already turned the boat around, and is coming to get us. He is relived that his majesty is with us. Now will you please explain what happened?" So, Kygo retold his anecdote with Ido throwing in pointed comments here and there. Once they were done we all ate the stale bread and fish Ryko had stole. Afterwards I laid out some large leaves to sleep on and used one of my saddlebags as a pillow. Kygo and Ido both laid out there 'beds' on either side of me.

"I'm not letting my Mirror Dragoneye get kidnapped again." Kygo stated when I gave him a questioning look. I smiled to myself as a slipped into unconsciousness, thinking about Kygo, but the last thing I saw as I finally fell into the dark abyss were amber eyes staring at me intently.

**Well here's chapter 13 I would say I'm sorry for the delay, but we both know that it will happen again. This chapter is shorter and a little more laid back with no cliffhanger! And please review, it gives me motivation. **


	14. Chapter 14 Hidden Love

I awoke with a start as I felt a hand shake me and looked right into the face of Ido. He brought a finger to his lips, motioning for me to be quiet. It was still very dark and all I could see was the shining gold of his eyes. He grasped my hand pulling me up from my makeshift bed, and leading me out of the forest to the moon bathed beach. The salty wind and the rushing sound of the waves were the only noise we heard as Ido led me to a small hill of sand. "I've been wanting to speak to you alone." Ido whispered.

"What do you want to speak to me about?" I questioned, puzzled as to what he wanted to ask me alone.

"Do you love him? Kygo, I mean." His abrupt question through me off guard. Of course I didn't love kygo! Well, at least I did not think I did.

"No," I denied, "why do you want to know?" Ido shrugged as he stared at the dark ocean, I couldn't see his face so I was not quite sure what he was thinking.

"Close your eyes." Ido ordered suddenly. I eyed him for a moment before I sighed and closed my eyes. I was nervous when I felt him shift so that he was facing me ,grabbing my hand and once again lifting me up off the hill and forward. After a few minutes of walking I felt lukewarm water wash up around my feet. My eyes shot open in surprise as I felt Ido lift me up and throw me into the massive sea! "Ido!" I shouted as he laughed and swam out to where I had landed. I glared at him and tried to swim towards the shore but he pulled me back to him, and turned me so we were face to face. His shimering eyes caught my attention and I could not help staring into them.

"You have beautiful lips." Ido murmured. He leaned forward, his mouth was so close to mine, I could smell the familiar vanilla orange scent that seemed to follow him everywhere. I knew I should not be this close to Ido, I knew it was dangerous, and I was playing with fire but I could not stop myself from pushing my body forward and pressing my lips to his. His mouth was sweet and gentle, a complete difference to our first kiss. I moaned, deepening the kiss and opening my mouth to him, our tongues battling for dominance. He pulled me against his body, and I wrapped my legs around his torso. Ido hissed in pain and I remembered his scars and broke away from his embrace.

"Ido, I am sorry, I forgot you are injured!"

"Do not apologize," Ido pulled me to him, "that was the greatest kiss ever placed upon my lips."I smiled and gave him a chaste kiss before moving towards the shore. Once we were both settled back on land I decided it was the best time to ask Ido what had happened with my dragon and why the ten beasts without their dragoneyes ambushed me.

" Ido, I cannot connect to my dragon," I whispered, getting straight to the point, "the other ten dragons, they ambush my dragon's and I, and choke us with their power." Ido gave me a thoughtful look before speaking.

"It is the same with my dragon as well." Ido confessed, "we need to find dragoneyes to replace the dead ones."

"How do we do that?" I questioned.

"We have to hunt down the old candidates, and somehow get them to commune." that sounded like an impossible task, how were we going to find all the dragoneye candidates with Sethon snapping at our heels like a deranged wolf, and on top of that getting the dragon's to commune with the chosen candidate out of their year? I voiced these concerns to Ido.

"It will not be easy, but I think we will be able to do it once we have the book that holds all the candidate's names and where they had lived. As for getting the dragons to commune with one of them out of their year of ascension, I don't yet know, but I will come up with something." Ido expounded.

"Where's the book?" I asked the obvious question. Ido gave me a wary look. That can't be good.

"The last time I saw it it was in the Imperial Library."

"You mean the palace?" my voice rose an octave with fear remembering my incarceration in the palace dungeon. Ido saw the fear in my eyes and quickly cupped my face in his hands and Brought my lips to his in a brisk reassuring kiss.

"I won't make you go back there, Eona. I will go with a few of Kygo's soldiers and get the book myself." Ido announced.

"I will join you in retrieving this book, as well." Kygo had been standing behind us, for how long I did not know.

"Kygo!" I yelped, scared he would disapprove of my current position with Ido's hands still holding my face. To my surprise kygo smiled at us and nodded to me. Whatever had happened to Ido and Kygo during their unexpected journey had seemingly brought their fighting to an end, for now.

"Are you prepared to face your uncle?" Ido questioned. Before Ido's inquiry could be answered Ryko shouted his allegiance to the mission.

"I will join you!" he declared as he walked up to us. I hadn't realized it was almost dawn and everyone was awake.

"We will wait for Tozay to dock the ship then Ido, ryko, and I, with a small band of guards, will ride to the palace and figure out how to sneak into the Imperial Library and steal the book of candidates." Kygo instructed.

"When will Tozay dock?" I questioned.

"By my calculations he will arrive around midday tomorrow." Ryko answered.

"We will leave around dusk, if not sooner." Kygo explained.

"What will I do when you are all gone? I don't want to wait around for you all to either come back injured or not come back at all!" I argued. I was filled with anger and panic. How could they be so relaxed about this. "I'm going with you," I finally announced, "I would rather die fighting for you than do nothing and worry for three days!"

"No!" kygo ordered, "I will not put you in danger."

"You must stay safe!" Ryko agreed. Ido did not say anything, he just glanced away when I faced him with a pleading look.

"What will I do when you are away?" I questioned in a defeated tone.

"You will stay here and not cause any trouble!" Kygo commanded. I huffed, but said nothing.

"How are we going to infiltrate the library? Pardon my saying, your majesty, but just the way you carry yourself will alert the guards, and Ido's eyes will surely give us away." Ryko stated. He was right, they wouldn't even make it past the gate.

"unless," Kygo murmured, thinking over a plan, "unless, Ido and I go in as slaves; no one would even dare to think an emperor or Dragoneye lord would dishonor themselves so. Meeko could pretend to be a scholar, he has the look. We would need to find the right clothing..." Kygo, Ido, and Ryko started going over the details. I walked over to where our fire had been, now just a circle of rocks around black ash. I looked over at Ido, admiring his strong chest and muscular arms. Now that I was away from him I really started to think about our shared kisses. How they were so much more than just kisses. They were meant to show affection and that we trusted and cared for one another, but could I really trust Ido? I didn't know, there was my heart telling me to go for it, then there was my mind reminding me of all the bad things Ido had done in the past. I sighed, and started drawing in the sand with my finger, trying to forget the predicament I had gotten myself into.

Around noon I decided to check on my horse out of boredom. The men were still going over the plan. I walked over to Mojo, tied to a tree and chewing on a lush shrub. I brushed my hand over his bruise colored neck and head.

"What a strange-colored animal." Ido muttered. He had snuck up behind me.

"Yes, he does have a queer coat. " I agreed. Ido went to stroke his nose, but Mojo snapped at his hand, nearly biting his thumb.

"Little temperamental bastard." Ido growled under his breath.

"I could say the same thing about you." I laughed.

"Trust me, Eona," Ido grinned wickedly, "there is nothing little about me." I blushed and started walking away from the camp and farther into the forest hoping Ido wouldn't follow me. I did not want to talk about our kiss just yet. And just my luck, Ido followed, still smirking.

"Are we going to talk about what happened a mere hour ago or are you going to pretend it didn't happen?" Of course he had to bring up the very topic I wanted to forget. Again my mind flooded with questions I had no answers to. Did I truly want to kiss him or was it just the thrill of the moment? Kygo had not seemed to mind, though I did not know how much of that moment he had seen. And what would Ryko think of me? After all I would be perusing a relationship with a man who killed at least twenty-two people, that I know of, and tried to rape me twice! What was I thinking? I shouldn't have kissed him; I shouldn't have let him close! He was getting to me, and worse he knew it too. I stopped walking once we got far enough away from the beach where no one could hear us. I knew what I had to do.

"It was a mistake, and nothing more." I said stoically, not turning around to see his face. I had to put a stop to this before it got to far.

"You're lying!" I could perceive the anger and hurt in his voice, "I know you feel something for me, Eona. I know you-"

"It does not matter what I feel! It matters only what you did. You killed people, Ido! Tortured my friends, murdered my mentor! And for what, for power, fame, and wealth? All of which you already had? I will never be able to love a man like you! You're a monster, a barbarian! Yes, I kissed you, but only because in the dark I lost sight of who you really were, of who you are, a sick, twisted person with no hope of ever changing!" I could not bear to turn around and look at his face. He was right though, I did feel something for him. I loved him. And it scared me. I was certain though, this feeling I felt for Ido was love. I cared for him to much, and I knew until this was all over I could not let him know, I could not grant him that much power over me. Not until I knew for certain he was a changed man. Until then, I would have to cherish him secretly.

"If that is how you feel, my lady, then I will keep my distance." Ido said in a cold formal voice, "but if it means anything to you; I regret what I did every time I look at you, and I hate that I caused you such pain and suffering, please forgive me?" finally, I turned to face him, and though he held no emotion in his voice, his face displayed a deep sadness. Even when wearing such a dejected expression it did not take away from his handsome features. In truth he looked like one of the statues a man would have made for his gardens. His amber eyes seemed to intensify his melancholiac visage.

"I'm sorry, I just..." I ran away. Away from his depressing stare and beautiful face. I wanted to tell him so badly. Tell him I forgave him and loved him, but it was just to soon. I would not fall for another man's traps, no matter how I felt abut him.


End file.
